Question

1. which of the following is an example of a social trap?

two roommates agree to clean the kitchen every week, but each keeps waiting for the other to do it, and the kitchen remains dirty.
a group of friends chooses to spend money on a shared vacation, but each person decides to book expensive activities, leading to an overall increase in the trips cost.
a person decides to recycle and reduce waste, even though they know other people might not participate.
a company adopts a policy of higher wages to attract better workers, but other companies follow suit, leading to overall increased labor costs across the industry.

Explanation:

A social trap is a situation where individuals act in their own short-term self-interest, but this leads to negative outcomes for the group as a whole.

• Option 1: Both roommates avoid cleaning to avoid individual effort, resulting in a dirty kitchen (a negative group outcome).
• Option 2: This is a case of collective overspending but not a trap of self-interest leading to mutual harm; it is just uncoordinated spending.
• Option 3: This is an example of pro-social behavior despite others' inaction, not a social trap.
• Option 4: This is industry competition, not a trap where individual self-interest creates a worse collective outcome for the original group.

Answer:

A. Two roommates agree to clean the kitchen every week, but each keeps waiting for the other to do it, and the kitchen remains dirty.